Sorry for the delay in this chapter guys. Real life has been a bit crazy lately, and I am sorry it interfered with this chapter. I hope that you guys enjoy it anyway! Please let me know what you think!
With the exception of leaving the house for food and, on one occasion, ice cream, Tess and Kozik stayed holed up inside his apartment for the better part of two days. The hangover she suffered from a night of too much drinking had been brutal, but the excitement she felt at the fact that she and Kozik had finally crossed the line into 'more than friends' definitely made up for it. He had bought her pancakes, fetched her aspirin, watched bad movies, and generally taken care of her until she was feeling more like herself, and less like a hot mess.
The mere fact that she spent much of her time puking and swearing off alcohol for life meant that it was far from a romantic couple of days, but Tess was okay with that. She was beyond thrilled that the two of them were together and finally heading in the right direction, but if she was truthful, she was a little bit nervous as well. He had said that he would wait for her, but Tess knew that there would come a point where he didn't want to wait. Hell, she knew that there would come a point when she didn't want to wait either. She just hoped that that point was soon for her, because whatever they had going here, she liked it and didn't want it jeopardized because of what Lex did to her.
As if he had been summoned sheerly by the force of her thoughts, Kozik appeared in the kitchen, and grabbed the container of orange juice from the fridge. He opened it and took a long pull, directly from the carton, while she stared at him, eyebrow raised. Despite all of the changes recently, it comforted her to know that some things, at least, would always be the same.
"Really?" she asked, hiding her happiness at the mere sight of him behind a stern tone. "Right out of the carton?"
"It's what I do," he shrugged, extending his hand and offering her the container. "Sorry. Did you want some?"
The very idea of the acidic beverage hitting her stomach made her queasy. She shook her head and turned away, taking deep breaths. She picked up her just opened bottle of water and flashed him a grin over her shoulder. "I'm good, thanks."
"You ready to go?" he asked as he returned the dreaded orange juice to the fridge.
"Um, yeah," she teased. "I've been waiting on you, Princess."
"Hey!" he responded, sliding an arm around her waist. "I think you meant to say 'stud'. Besides, you know that this whole charming, sexy, blond biker vibe I've got going on isn't easy to pull off. It takes time, and work, and-"
"And a lot of hair gel," she finished for him, as she rolled her eyes at his rumpled jeans and mechanic's shirt. She doubted that he had spent so much time in the shower perfect this particular look, but she didn't mention it. Instead, she kissed him soundly and continued. "We need to head out. I don't want to be late for work. It's bad enough that you told them I was taking a half day. It's noon! I feel late!"
"You don't mind being gone for two days, but you mnd being late?" he wondered, with a smirk.
""Shut up, I was sick!" she defended. "I know that Chucky is sweet and all, but I don't think he would have liked cleaning up puke and bringing me bottles of water all day."
"Probably not," he shook his head. "Cleaning is hard for him, what with the no fingers and all. It's for the best that you stayed home, with an able bodied male to handle the situation."
"Oh Lord," she rolled her eyes, her expression playful. "Are you really comparing yourself to Chucky in order to seem more manly?"
"No!" he insisted, before thinking about it. "Well, yeah, but still. I could compare myself to pretty much anybody and seem manly."
"I don't know," she teased him, with a casual shrug. "I mean, Opie is a giant. That's pretty manly. And then there's Chibs. He could wear a dress a carry a purse, and he would still be incredibly sexy and manly…"
"Hey!" he protested, leaning in to kiss her, eager to assert his own manliness. "I'm telling Fiona you said that. You'd better be careful. I've seen her punch women for flirting too much with Chibs."
Tess dissolved in a fit of giggles. "I heard something about that. Thanks for the warning."
"See, I am already protecting you from future danger," he said, arms still around her. "Doesn't get more manly than that."
"You're right," her face radiating happiness as she trailed a hand up into his hair. "However could I thank you?"
Her lips brushed his, the kiss becoming more and more intense. Tess couldn't believe that she actually got to do this; that she finally got to kiss him whenever she wanted to. She swore that she would never, ever get tired of this.
Of course they were interrupted by the phone ringing. Kozik groaned as he pulled away from her to answer it. She bit her lip and grinned as she finished putting away her cereal supplies from breakfast and washed her bowl. The smile on her face felt permanent. It didn't matter that she didn't have everything figured out yet. It didn't matter that she was nervous about going back to work and facing everybody. Regardless of what happened, she had him, and that was reason enough to smile.
"Alright," Kozik announced as he ended the phone call. "I was going to try to convince you to hang around here for awhile longer and make out with me, but we really do need to go. We have a mechanic that didn't show up this morning, and Tara's nanny called in sick, so she has to bring Abel to the garage. I think something is going on with her and Gemma. Anyway, Fiona and Kerrianne and the baby are coming in, and Tara is hoping that Kerrianne can look after Abel so she Fiona can help you out in the office. Oh, and we are packed full of cars, and the Irish are coming by when we close, because they are leaving and we need to secure a couple of things and Maeve wants to say goodbye, and we haven't even gotten to the garage and I can already tell it will be a long day."
"Wow, yeah," she swallowed the last gulp of her water. "We should head out."
He moved towards the door, and it took him a moment to realize that she wasn't following him. He stopped in his tracks, and looked back at her. "Tess? You okay?"
"Yeah, sorry," she sighed. "It's just….what do we tell everybody? You know...about…"
She gestured to the two of them, and Kozik got her meaning pretty quickly. He ran a hand through his hair, already pretty mussed by her own fingers. He decided to see how humor would work in this situation. "Well, we could try making out in front of everybody. Oh wait! We already did."
"Kozik!" she groaned, looking mortified. He didn't take it personally. That's just who she was.
"Tess, look," he leveled with her. "I will be honest with you. They are probably going to give you some shit. That's just what the guys do, and the women are even worse. But they love you, and if they push too far, tell them to fuck off and they will. Plus, if it makes you feel better, whatever shit they give you, they will give me ten times worse. We will live, and at the end of the day, we will come home together. Does that work for you?"
She smiled sheepishly. As much as he tried to hide it, he really was the sweetest guy ever. "Yeah, I think that works for me."
"Good, now let's go," he took her hand and pulled her towards the door. "I give it maybe ten minutes before Gemma shows up and she and Tara have some sort of blow out and Gemma tries to steal all of the babies. Let's not let that happen, okay?"
Tara struggled to keep a firm grip on Abel's hand. Ever since he had learned to walk, Abel had been practically unstoppable. He was walking like a professional, and getting into trouble every chance he got. Like his father before him, he seemed glued to whatever form of danger was within reach, and for a toddler, that was a lot.
Right now, in fact, she was attempting to wrangle him and distract him from the wooden beams and power tools strewn across the lot. Somebody (Tara suspected Opie) had commissioned the Prospects to build a swingset in the parking lot. Tara wasn't quite sure how she felt about her son playing in the parking lot of the garage, surrounded by Crow Eaters and cursing mechanics, but at this point, she couldn't wait for it to be finished, if only to give Abel a place to run around. He certainly spent enough time here, and what with the new Telford baby, and hers on the way, there would be plenty of kids climbing around on the playground for years to come.
"Come on, Abel," she knelt down, over her ever growing belly, and hoisted him up with a grunt. "Let's head in. I bet your Uncle Op or Uncle Chibs is working on a car and will let you watch."
"Car?" Abel asked, his baby voice making her smile.
"That's right; car," Tara whispered to him. "Do you like cars?"
"Vroom, vroom!" he answered, quite logically.
"That's right; that's good," Tara pressed a kiss to his forehead. "You keep liking cars. Four wheels, buddy. Not two."
Abel continued to babble, mostly senselessly, as Tara headed into the garage. It only took her a couple seconds of looking before she heard a Scottish tinged voice let out an impressive string of curse words from underneath the hood of a Ford.
"Chibs!" Tara scolded, though she was biting her tongue to keep from laughter. "If Abel's first word turns out to begin with an F, I am going to kill you."
"Sorry, Doc," he smiled at her, not looking all that sorry. "I heard that you were bringing the wee man around to visit. Nanny sick?"
"Apparently," Tara sighed. "Fiona and your crew here yet? I was hoping I could convince Kerrianne to watch him for a bit while I get some work done."
Chibs cocked an eyebrow and looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he just shook his head. "Fi took Kerri and Rory to do a bit of shopping. New babies need a lot of things, apparently. They should be here soon. Fi wanted to catch up on some of the paperwork from Tess being out."
"Ah," Tara nodded. "I hear she will be back today?"
"Aye, she should be," Chibs had a semi-evil grin on his face.
"Be nice to her!" Tara insisted. "It's bad enough that she has to deal with Kozik. Don't give her a hard time."
"Me? Never," he replied, the grin never leaving his face. "Have you talked to Gemma?"
"No," Tara answered quickly. Too quickly, if you asked Chibs. "Why? Have you?"
"No," he shook his head, more than a little suspicious. "I was just wondering if she would be in today, or not. We have a full house of cars today, and with the Irish coming by, thought it might be a good idea to have all hands on deck."
"I am sure we will manage," Tara shook her head. "Three grown women, a sensible teenager,-"
Chibs cut her off before she could finish. "Plus a toddler and an infant and an office full of work. Oh, and some….visiting dignitaries. I am sure that is not a recipe for disaster at all." Tara sighed and didn't quite meet his eye. "Is there a reason why you don't want Gemma here?"
Tara wished she could explain it; wished she could tell him why she couldn't bring herself to fully trust the matriarch. She had read the letters, each and every one of them, and at first, she had no idea what to believe; no idea who to believe. The craziness of the past several weeks had pushed the letters to the back of her mind, but a dream last night, starring Jax, and Gemma, and JT, had brought them right to the front again. The more she thought of them, the less inclined she was to trust Gemma.
Tara noticed Fiona's car pulling into the lot. Thankful for the distraction, she shook her head. "No, everything's fine. Fiona's here, though."
Chibs didn't believe her, Tara could tell, but he let it drop. He headed off to meet his wife, Tara and Abel following behind. Tara smiled as she watched Chibs kiss his wife and greet his daughter, before rescuing the new baby from his car seat. She had known Chibs for a long time, and had seen him go through so many crazy things. The fact that he had his wife and daughter here with him, and a new son to boot, would be good for him, and that made Tara happy. Very suddenly, she realized that perhaps Chibs family being here would be good for her, as well.
"Hey Kerri," Tara called as she got close. "How's it going?"
"Good," the younger girl shrugged. "Spent the morning bonding with my new brother, and buying him presents."
"All with your Dad's money," Tara nodded. "Nice."
Kerrianne giggled. "That's the best part."
"Any chance you would be willing to hang out with Abel for awhile, so I can help your Mom in the office and run some errands? There would be some money in it for you, just in case you wanted to give Chibs wallet a break," Tara did her best to make the offer sound enticing.
"Why would I ever want to do that?" Kerrianne cracked, rolling her eyes. "But of course I will watch Abel. Gives me a good excuse to not study."
"Studying?" Tara asked, curious.
"Yes," Kerrianne rolled her eyes. "Ma says I have to start school here, and soon. I want to make sure I am ready."
"Makes sense," Tara agreed. "He'll probably nap after lunch, so you should be able to get some studying done, so don't worry."
"I wasn't really that worried," Kerrianne told her, before grinning at Abel. "Come on, kid. Let's go inside and watch cartoons. It's hot out here."
Tara watched Abel dutifully follow Kerrianne into the Clubhouse. Glad that the boy was in safe hands, Tara turned back towards Fiona and Chibs. "No fair hogging the baby, Chibs. And didn't you just get done telling me that you were packed with cars today? I think you'd better hand your boy over and get back to work."
He glared at her, but handed Rory over, before planting a kiss on Fiona and heading back to the garage. Fiona blatantly stared at his ass as he walked away, a fact Chibs was likely well aware of, but before long, she looked back at Tara. "Hello, dear. Are you enjoying our sweet Rory?"
"Of course I am," Tara cooed, looking at the baby. "Who wouldn't enjoy such a sweet little man?"
"I am glad you're here today," Fiona told her as she gathered Rory's car seat and diaper bag and headed towards the office. "Maybe you can get him to sleep for a little while, and then we can work. With Tess out for two days, I am sure things are a mess. I wanted to get things squared away quickly, so that we have time to gossip when she gets here."
"Good idea!" Tara grinned, glad to have an excuse to hold Rory for awhile. As they entered the office, Tara instantly noticed that it smelled different than usual, and not because of her pregnancy hormones either. It didn't take long to figure out that the source of the smell was a small vase of lilacs on the desk.
"What the hell?" Tara asked, turning to look at Fiona. "Where did those come from?"
Fiona has an oddly sentimental look on her face, and Tara was momentarily taken aback. "Those," Fiona said with a sweet smile. "Come from my very sweet husband."
"He buys you flowers?" Tara asked, only slightly jealous. She had never known anybody to describe Chibs as sweet before, but it seemed that the shoe fit.
"He buys me lilacs," Fiona corrected. "Only lilacs. And only occasionally."
"Wow," Tara joked. "Between you, and our girl Tess, maybe we need to take a trip to Lila's favorite lingerie shop."
"Hmmm, maybe," Fiona raised an eyebrow. She began preparing a bottle for the baby, but Tara noticed how often her eyes drifted towards the window, where Chibs could be clearly seen, leaned over, elbow deep in the Ford. The sight made Tara miss Jax fiercely, and her hand drifted down to her ever growing stomach. She wished more than anything that he was here.
Fiona handed over the bottle, and started on the filing. They worked in silence for awhile, Fiona organizing the papers and Tara feeding the baby, who slowly drifted off to sleep. As gently as she should, Tara stood and settled the baby back into his car seat, grinning when she managed to do it without waking him. She looked up, staring at Fiona while she worked. It took her a moment to work up the nerve to ask, but she knew that she didn't really have any other options.
"Fiona?" she asked softly.
"Yes, dear?" Fiona turned around, smiling.
Tara took a deep breath. "Do you know Maureen Ashby?"
Fiona's eyebrows knit together, surprised by the question. She nodded, "Aye, I have known Maureen for years. She's a good friend."
This was exactly what Tara had been hoping for. "I was wondering…"
"Wondering what, Tara?" Fiona asked, eager to get to the point.
"Look, I can't tell you why, not yet anyway, but I need you to get me in touch with her," Tara explained. "And I need this conversation to stay between us."
She saw Fiona glance out the window again, and Tara knew what she was grappling with. Some people kept secrets easily, hid things from their loved ones without a second thought. Fiona was not one of those people, and neither was Tara. After a moment, she picked up a pen and wrote down a number she had memorized by heart, years ago, when Maureen had been one of the only people in the world she could rely on. She handed it over to Tara.
"Don't forget that they are eight hours ahead of us," Fiona advised. "Maureen wouldn't take kindly to being woken in the middle of the night, even if it was the Pope calling."
"Thank you," Tara said softly, knowing the risk the other woman was taking.
"When the time is right," Fiona stated, looking completely serious. "I fully expect for you to tell me what's going on. I don't like not telling him things, and I expect that I am doing it for a good reason."
Tara nodded, hoping that she was doing the right thing, and wishing that she could be sure.